Dr Sebastian Brock on St Ephraim the Syrian - Session 1 (heading)
The Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies is pleased to offer a
recording of Dr Sebastian Brock's first lecture on St Ephraim the
Syrian as part of our 'Meeting the Fathers' Community Days.
The talk was given in Cambridge, on 16 February 2013.

Source

On Atonement by Fr John Peck

Icon of Christ bearing His Cross inside the Church of Panagia Dexia
Thessaloniki, Greece

"Christ unites us all. Christ heals the rift between God and man,

because he IS the healing of that rift. His crucifixion destroyed sin. 

His death destroys death. Uniting ourselves to him heals us of every

infirmity and makes up whatever is weak and lacking. Christ heals.

That is Atonement. That is Salvation. The healing and re-integration

of the human person, body, soul and spirit. And to access this grace,

we need to access Him. And how do we do that? Today’s Gospel tells

us. Humility. Repentance."

From Fr John's Post Some Profound Heresies on Atonement

To read this post in its totality please visit Fr John Peck's Blog

If we Ignore the Poor, God will Not Hear our Prayer

Source

"Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly
record unjust decisions, So as to deprive the needy of justice
And rob the poor of my people of their rights, So that widows may
be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans." Isaiah 10:1-2

"He that stops his ears from hearing the poor, himself also shall cry
and there shall be none to hear him." Prov. 21:13

"And we often marvel - why does God not listen to our prayers?
Here is the reason! Because there surely have been instances when
we have stopped our ears from hearing the entreaties of the needy;
so the Lord does not hear us either. It is no great woe if a prayer
about something temporal is not heard; but how woeful if the Lord
will not listen to us when we begin to pray to Him for the forgiveness
of our sins. He will not listen if the cry to Him of those whom
we have scorned is stronger than our prayers. We must hurry
to avert this extreme misfortune, according to the example of 
Zacchaeus, whose wise decision caused the Lord to say, This day is
salvation come to this house." St Theophan the Recluse

from 'Thoughts for Each day of the Year' p. 77 by St Theophan
the Recluse, Translated by Lisa M. Baranov, Edited by Nun Cornelia
and the St Herman of Alaska Brotherhood

Source
This great devotional is available from Amazon.com

That We Must Meet the Lord Jesus Christ in this Life!

Icon of Christ in a Different Form by Manuel Panselinos
Photograph by Paul Mylonas


Recently, I read a passage from St Maximos the Confessor that
brought a lot of hope to my heart. Our Orthodox Church Fathers, 
like St Symeon the New Theologian and teachers such as Fr John
Romanides instruct us that we must meet Christ in this life. The 
eye of our soul, our nous, must be opened before we depart this life,
in order to see our Lord in the next. 

All the ascetical struggle of the Orthodox Christian has the purpose
of purifying the heart so that one day he may meet the Lord Jesus
Christ face to face. We must be spiritually alive to God to be able to
enter the Kingdom. But how is this event to take place? St Maximos
writes,

" For the Lord does not always appear in glory to those who are
standing before Him; rather, He comes in the form of a servant to 
beginners,... Thus it is possible for the Lord not to appear in the 
same form to all those who meet him, but to some in one way and
to others in another way, that is, by varying the contemplation 
(of Him) according to the measure of faith in each one."
From 'Maximos Confessor Selected Writings', Chapters on Knowledge p.150,

Trans. by George C. Berthold, The Classics of Western Spirituality, Paulist 

Press New York 1985

In the Gospel of Luke 24:13 NASB,we read:

"And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village
named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And
they were talking with each other about all these things which had
taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself
approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were
prevented from recognizing Him."

The disciples did not recognize the Lord but they felt the fire of

His Presence in their hearts. It wasn't until the end of the day that

Luke and Cleopas were able to see that it was the Lord speaking to

them. "When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the

bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. 

Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He 

vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Were not our

hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, 

while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” All the hours the 

disciples spent conversing with the Lord on the way to Emmaus

were needed to prepare their hearts for a fuller revelation of

Himself.

Again, when the disciples were fishing on the sea of Galilee, the Lord

stood on the beach and spoke to them saying, "Cast the net on the 

right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” John 21:6

They obeyed the 'stranger' and caught a big catch of fish. Then

"that disciple whom Jesus loved (John) said to Peter, “It is the Lord.”

John 21:7

You see, the disciples had heard those words before, when Jesus
called them to follow Him at the beginning of His ministry. And
John, whose heart was ready, immediately recognized his Master.

This experience is absolutely necessary if we are to hold converse

with the Lord. It is also necessary for a correct understanding of

the scriptures. In reference to the revelation of Christ's glory to 

His disciples on Mount Tabor, St Maximos writes,

"When the Word of God becomes bright and shinning in us, and 

His face is dazzling as the sun, then also will His clothes be radiant,

that is, the clear and distinct words of the Holy Scripture of the

Gospels now no longer veiled. Then Moses and Elijah will stand 

beside Him, that is, the more spiritual meanings of the Law and 

the Prophets."
Maximos Confessor Selected Writings p.150, Trans. by George C.

Berthold, Paulist Press 1985

Forgiveness of Sins by St Ephraim the Syrian

St. Ephraim the Syrian


Prayer of St Ephraim the Syrian

"Oh Lord and Master of my life, 

Do not give to me the spirit of laziness, faintheartedness, lust for power and idle talk! 

But, give to me Thy servant the spirit of purity,

humility, patience and love. 

O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to judge

my brother, for blessed art Thou unto ages of ages. Amen

Forgiveness of Sins for Forgiveness of Offences

"Thus does the Lord speak to every soul: forgive your brother
his transgressions, and I will forgive you your sins. You shall
forgive minor errors, debts of perhaps a few coins or some three
pence, and I will grant you thousands of talents. For you have 
only to forgive, without presenting any gift; but I will forgive you
your sins and grant you healing and the heavenly kingdom.

And I will accept your gift when you make peace with him who 
is at enmity with you. When you have no malice, when the setting
sun does not find you angry, when you meet all with peace and 
love - then will your prayer be acceptable and your offering 
pleasing, and your house will be blessed and you also shall find
blessing.

But if you do not make peace with your brother, then how will
you ask Me for forgiveness? I am your Master; I command you
and you do not heed Me. You are a servant; how dare you bring
Me a prayer, or a sacrifice, or first fruits of your harvest, if you 
bear malice toward anyone? If you turn your face from your 
brother, so shall I turn Mine eyes from your prayer and from your
gift."

From 'A Spiritual Psalter' No. 33 p.61, excerpted by Bishop

Theophan the Recluse from the works of our Holy Father

Ephraim the Syrian, Trans. by Br. Isaac E. Lambertsen, 

The St. John of Kronstadt Press, Liberty TN 1997

ISBN 0-912927-40-2

 Image Source

Hidden Joy by Igumen Nektary (Morozov)

Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov

Fragment from an article posted in the Orthodox blog 

Pravoslavie.ru

"Somewhere I happened to read a line written by Archimandrite
Sophrony (Sakharov), “Grace comes to the heart that has 

suffered.”

It seems it was in a letter to Hieromonk Dimitry (Balfour)… And a
line by the Apostle Paul was something I didn’t come across by
chance—I have read it many times, over and over: For just as we
share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort
abounds through Christ (2 Cor. 1:5)…So, on Saturday at the Vigil
Service, during the Polyeleos I was looking at the icon of St. Gregory
Palamas and thought about his amazing life, about the light of
Mt. Tabor, the nature of which he so wisely explained and in which
he himself abided—being transformed, illumined, “reaching for the
heights”. What grace he lived in! But then it was as if a spear pierced
my heart: How he also suffered!

And not only he, but anyone who with time had become no longer a
slave but a friend of God, one of those who pleased Him, and became
like unto Him insofar as that is possible for a human being. No
matter whom we talk about—martyrs and passion-bearers, holy
hierarchs and monastic saints, about righteous women and fools-
for-Christ they all had to suffer. Only they had all different kinds of
sufferings—some were physical, others emotional, caused by ill-
intentioned people, or sometimes from the demons, hateful and
inhuman.

But no one, absolutely no one, as St. Isaac the Syrian said, “has ever
ascended to heaven by living coldly.” And from what we have come
to know and are still learning, he also testifies that a person is
especially looked after by God when the Lord sends him constant
sorrows. Abba Isaac also adds that there is no other path to draw
closer to Christ other than the path of sorrows."

Please continue reading here.

One Heart that Seems Two by St Macarius

This Patristic breviary is available from Barnes & Noble

"One Heart that Seems Two

How is it possible for sin and grace to dwell in the same heart, as if 
there were two different hearts?

The illustration of fire may help. If you have a fire below a vessel
and you put some wood on it, the fire flares up and the water in the
vessel heats up and boils. But if you fail to put more wood on the fire
it begins to fade gradually and goes out.

In our hearts is the heavenly fire of grace. If we pray and meditate
on the love of Christ, we add wood to the fire and our hearts burn
with longing for God.

If, on the contrary, we are negligent and give our attention to 
worldly affairs, vice enters the heart, takes it over and torments us.

Nevertheless, the heart remembers the peace which it tasted earlier
and begins to repent, to direct itself afresh toward God. On the one 
hand, then, peace is brought nearer, on the other, we are seeking it 
fervently in prayer. It is like stirring the fire which is warming the 
heart.

The vessel of the heart is very deep, so deep that the Bible says God
searches the abyss of it. If a person deviates from the way of God's 
commandments, he puts himself under the power of sin. And because
the heart is a deep abyss, sin goes right down to it in order to take 
over its territory. So it is necessary for grace also, slowly, to descend
to those depths."
Pseudo-Macarius, Homily 40:7

from 'Drinking from the Hidden Fountain' p.108-109, Edited by 
Thomas Spidlik and Translated by Paul Drake, Cistertian 
Publications 1994